History of the Comal County Genealogy Society

1982, March 1

The beginning date for “027 Genealogy”, a Community Education Course taught by Mrs. Sarah Pierson.  This marked the inception and impetus of the future Comal County Genealogy Society.

1982, July

The first meeting of the Society was held.  Carole LaShomb, who had taken Mrs. Pierson’s course, was the first president.  The meetings were held in the meeting room at the Dittlinger Public Library.

1983

Carole LaShomb continues as the president.  The Newsletter is started as the Club’s publication.

1984, February

First Family Footsteps of the “Comal County Family Historians” is issued. The work of six committees is now well organized and documented.

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1846 – 1864, Books A,B,C

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1864 – 1877, Books D,E

1985

During the year the meetings were now moved to a meeting room of the First Federal Savings & Loan on the Plaza on the first Tuesday of each month. Glenn Marks was president.

1986, June

With Glenn Marks as president, the name of the Society was changed from “Comal County Family Historians” to “Comal County Genealogy Society”.

Published Cemeteries in New Braunfels

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1887 – 1888, Book F

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1888 – 1897, Book G

1987

Bill Hightower and Troy Woolf began the work on the Comal County Cemetery Project. Over half the membership lives outside Comal County. Bill Hightower was president.

Published Burial Records – Old New Braunfels Cemetery

Published Burial Records – Comal Cemetery, 1873 – 1900

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1897 – 1904, Book H

1988

With Marydean Motz as president, Bill Hightower hosted our first workshop with Lloyd Bockstruck of the Dallas Genealogy Library as speaker. The Family Footsteps magazine began to be published three times a year.

1989

Clyde Blackman was president and increased our interaction with the Sophienburg Archives. During Wurstfest, the Society worked in the Archives Heritage Room for the first time.

Published Lest We Forget – Cemeteries of Comal County, Texas

Published Comal County Natuaralization Papers, 1847 – 1927

1990

With Dick Warren as president we joined the Archives to have New Braunfels recognized by Texas as a “German Heritage Center of Texas”. Our publications were now housed in the new Archives building in the old City Hall. Everett Fey began the extensive research project on the Founding Fathers of New Braunfels, hopefully to be published by the Sesquicentennial Year.

1991

Raymond Staats was president; there was increased membership and our past publications brought in more income. We began to discuss moving our books and other holdings from the Public Library to the Archives Building.

Published Comal County Index to Probate, 1846 – 1884, A – G

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1904 – 1912, Book I

1992, September 15

Claudine Mulhern was president for our Tenth Anniversary Party of the Society held at Schwamkrug’s Steak House. Terry Jordan, author of German Seed on Texas Soil, was our guest speaker.

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1870

Published Oscar Haas History of New Braunfels – Name Index

Published Comal County Index to Probate, 1885 – 1924, H – Q

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1912 – 1918, Book K

1993

Charlotte Boyd was president and helped to coordinate the many tasks the members did for the upcoming book to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Founding of New Braunfels (especially assembling the First Founder genealogies.)

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1880 Index

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1918 – 1923, Book L

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1923 – 1926, Book M

1994

With Jack W. Wise as president, the membership became more and more aware of the help which was available on the Computer Networks (latter to be known as the Internet.)

Published Comal County – Death Records: A – Lopez

Published Comal County – Death Records: Lopez – Z

Published Comal County Index to Probate, 1924 – 1940, R – Z

Published Comal County Marriage Records, 1926 – 1929, Book N

Published Comal County Birth Records, 1910 – 1917

1994, August 15

Society members and Archive members met with Mr. Eakin of Eakin Press to sign the contract and hand over the “camera ready” material for Everett Fey’s Sesquicentennial Book, New Braunfels: The First Founders.

1994, December 1

The book signing ceremonies are held at the Archives for the new publication, New Braunfels: The First Founders.

1995

Everett Fey was president for this Sesquicentennial Year. The membership organized a splendid showing of First Founder Descendants marching in the Founders’ Day Parade. Toward the end of the year, the president arranged to print the ancestral charts of all contributing members in the Footsteps.

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1850

1996

Ethel Canion was president. A sad note hit the Society as Vernon Strey, our Treasurer and publisher of a myriad of genealogies died. Vivian Zipp begins the arduous task of compiling an index of all burials in Comal Cemetery.

1997

Ethel Canion continues as president and Vivan Zipp continues the Cemetery task. The Society purchases a new reader machine for the genealogy area in the Archives and also repairs the reader printer in the same room.

Published Comal County Birth Records, 1865 – 1927, Vol. 1

Published Comal County Birth Records, 1903 – 1917, Vol. 3

Published Comal County Birth Records, 1903 – 1924, Vol. 3

1998

We begin the year with no president nor vice-president. The meeting nights are changed to the second Tuesday of the month. We now plan field trips for the summer months in lieu of holding a meeting.

Published Burial Records – Comal Cemetery, 1873 – 1998

1999

Another year without a president but it was a good year. The Society took field trips to Castroville and to the King William area in San Antonio with lunch at the Guenther House.

2000

A new Millennium is here. Everett Fey became the president and initiated Project 2000, and index of all the Family Histories at the Archives. The Society took field trips to Indianola, the Wendish Museum, and the Painted Churches of Texas. In October, we revised our By-Laws. This was also the first year of our Movie Night at the Forke Store in the Conservation Plaza.

2001

Everything continues to go well. We made a trip to Industry, Texas and also toured Lindheimer’s home in New Braunfels. Project 2001, a redoing of the lost 1890 Comal Census is begun. We also operated a booth at the Selma Historic Trail Ride Days. Another fun year.

2002

A lot of projects underway: the gigantic Cemetery Project, the 1910 Census Project, reprinting of the Sexton Records to name a few. Our Project 2001 still continues and our 20th anniversary!

2003

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1910

2004

Published Sts Peter & Paul Catholic Cemetery Records, 1889 – 2001

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1920

Republished German Expressions: A Compilation of German Expressions, Proverbs, Sayings by Carl & Leonora Wolf

2005

Published U.S. Census – Comal County – 1930

2006

The 160th anniversary of the founding of Comal County.

Launch of the Society webpage at www.ccgsTexas.org

Delray Fischer and CCGS publishes the Land Grant Map of Comal County

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